By Sheila Mckenzie And Gavin Mackintosh-
British parents are offrolling their children from a number of primary and secondary schools because of an objection they have to the curriculum of sex education.
A number of parents spoken to by The Eye Of Media.Com admitted they have offrolled their children from school primarily because of their objections to sex education which teaches children to about sex and how to protect themselves. Majority of the parents identified through school trips, after school pick up time, and mutual contacts said they object to the idea of their children being taught about sex as youngsters long before the legal age of 16.
15% of a sample of random sample of 1,000 parents spoken to said they did not want their children in schools were they were taught to believe it was alright to have sex before they were 16, with 10% of that percentage citing religious reasons like the Muslim or Catholic faith. However, others cited bullying and low self esteem as other influences in their decision making process. Parents worried about the impacts of sex education fear their child coming home pregnant one day as a young teenager, or their son impregnating a girl at a very young age.
At home, there are committed parents who go out of their and spend hours teaching their primary or secondary school children privately. Plenty of time spent on their children is a seed sown, but the government have so afr expressed great discomfort with offrolling.
One 30 year old mother said she takes a few days off work every week to spend about 5 hours a day with her 8 year old daughter and her 12 year old son, teaching them English language and literature, using school recommended text books and books she bought herself.
”Other days of the week I hire a tutor to teach them privately, I work on training their minds and intellect and teaching them about life. Another parent, a psychology P.H.D graduate, currently out of work told The Eye Of Media.Com:
” I spend about 6 hours a day with my 12 year old son when he is not in school. When a responsible parents sees that their child is prone to negative influences in their school, it makes more sense to have them safe under your supervision.
He is at an age when he wants to be telling me about social media, and wanting to be popular in school and have the best mobile phone and trainers. Whilst I respect the positive benefits of sex education, I think there is too much overemphasis on this as opposed to stimulating the child’s curiosity to expand their knowledge base through focused wide learning without the big distraction that can come from being engrossed in who fancies them or doesn’t fancy them or who they fancy.
”Children should ofcourse develop social skills, but I think as parents we can be more selective about the company our children keep when they are very young and impressionable.There is so much self discovery many children and adults never make, but the best type to prepare for that is when very young. A child should learn as much as they can about different fields and generate true passion, and believe in their individuality more rather than being led by other children who don’t often know what they are doing”.
FEAR
Other parents expressed a fear of their children falling into gangs or being caught up in gang issues outside school because of school acquaintances or friends. The findings came as a surprise because these kind of reasons are not heard often. The research was conducted over a one month period in conjunction with a few researchers from online publication Tes, sharing a common interest in some aspects of the research.
Other aspects inquired from parents was the amount of time they spent reading with their children at various stages of their development, whether there was any degree of testing conducted, incentives offered to children to increase their learning, support given through encouragement to read books, what types of book they buy for them if any, and what concerns they have most about their children’s development.
One parent , a 32 year old nurse from Hammersmith , London, who refused to be named told The Eye Of Media.Com:
”I don’t understand why the law prohibits sex before the age of 16, but yet are tying to teach children to use condoms or protection if they want to have sex earlier. There is nothing wrong with keeping children safe from STD’s and pre-mature pregnancy, but not any emphasis is put on children abiding by the law and not needing to use condoms before that. I would rather my child is studying at home where he can be supervised away from the polluted things he will be hearing and seeing in school.
There is a strong tendency for young boys in particular, to be easily influenced by their peers. I teach my child to understand that many of his peers are not in receipt of good home training, and those who are, may be strong enough to ride the storm or make serious mistakes along the way even if they take school seriously.
”School pupils need to educated about the qualities and values of self preservation, that is waiting for the right time to have sex with the right person. Not just giving in to the lusts and sexual urges practised by other children. The emotions and bad habits that come with early sexual habits should be taught in schools so that people are aware that the addiction of early sex can be damaging.
TAUGHT
Boys especially need to be taught not to just see girls as sex objects, but to see them as their counterparts the most compatible of which they can be romantically involved at the right time, not as young children who should be learning in school. Children who indulge in early sex be criticised in general by school leaders and shunned as children with no moral compass or brought up with none.
Another female lecturer at Kings College University said she found home studies suitable for one of her children who is otherwise distracted by girls and peer pressure. She said:
”the negative influences of peer pressure in schools this days is such that only the very resilient and well balanced children make it through unscathed. What you sometimes also find is that even those who are hardworking and academically bright begin to feel at a young age that they need to have a sexual partner and fit into the norms of their classmates, some of whom they find to fit this definition of being cool and popular. Under responsible home supervision, at least you can guarantee they get good G.C.S.E’s and A levels.
Once they have gone past G.C.S.E level with flying colours, they have at least crossed an important milestone. Too many children Are destroyed before this stage”.
OFFROLLING
Of rolling describes situations in which pupils are pulled out of school to be tutored at home because their guardians believe this will give them the best chance of the complete development they visualise for them. Under new laws by The Department Of Education, children taught at home will be placed on a register and monitored for the first time in a bid to tackle illegal schools.
The Education Secretary recently warned that although parental supervision can be academically beneficial to some children, others are being exposed to “dangerous influences” at unregistered centres or not “getting an education at all”. Some schools offroll students who are extremely disruptive, especially where they very much doubt the child will pass their G.C.S.E’s. Pupils who add to the negative academic statistics of their school are a liability, and probably best placed somewhere else as far as many schools are concerned.
IMPORTANT
Sexual education is an important part of a child’s development. It helps raise their awareness of everything connected to sex, including potential diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and many more. Parents who object to this are concerned about their children being exposed to promiscuous practices or falling under bad influence. The British government does not permit offrolling and has stated it an illegal activity which is unacceptable.
Schools that offroll or pursue alternative provision for pupils risk legal action by the government, but the real problem is when parents are behind the offrolling. It sometimes becomes impossible to tell when a child has been offrolled as a result of collaboration between a parent and a teacher, but the government will be keeping close tabs on it.
This article was contributed to by both authors in Writing and Research